Fostering & AdoptionAutumn Newsletter

Sharing news and events on fostering and adoption in Jersey.

Fostering & Adoption MonthThis year we have extended our campaign from the usual one week to three weeks, giving the opportunity to focus on fostering and maximise awareness on the need to recruit more local foster carers.

We will be hosting 3 pop up information sites across the island over the month of October, where we will be inviting the public to come along and find out more about fostering & adoption. These events aim to encompass all aspects of fostering and adoption, to demystify and clarify the process, and give anyone inter-ested the chance to ask questions and have a friendly chat with a specialised social worker.

Although the month celebrates adoption our aim is to continuously keep fostering on our agenda as we hope to recruit more foster car-ers on a continuous basis.

Fostering & Adoption Information Sites

Sat 14th - St Martin’s Parish Hall 10am-4pmFri 20th - Town Library - 10-4pmSat 21st - Town Library - 10am-4pmSat 28th - Communicare, Les Quennevais - 10am-4pm

Dear ColleagueAutumn seems to now be well on its way and I know this is cliché but it is amazing how quickly this year is marching on. I hope that you have all noticed (and if not than we have failed!) the real ‘push’ in recruitment of foster carers. We have had an increase in enquiries this year and are preparing for our 5th ‘Skills to Foster’ pre-approval training. Adoption week has also given us the opportunity to reflect on the very many successful adoptions on the Island.I hope that you will enjoy reading the newsletter and that it will give you a flavour of what has been happening in the world of fostering and adoption in Jersey. Best Wishes Emmy Lindsey - Team Manager

Foster Carers CharterWe are delighted to announce the official launch of the foster carers charter. The charter sets out clear principles on how foster carers should be treated, recognises their invaluable work and aims to encourage more islanders to consider becoming foster carers.

The charter recognises the excellent care, support and commitment shown by foster carers, and the invaluable role they play in the lives of Jersey’s looked after children and young people. This charter aims to re-enforce that recognition, demonstrate the joint responsibilities to the children and young people in our care and build on the success and achievements of fostering in Jersey. It sets out clear principles, based on the core belief that children come first, on how fos-ter carers should be treated, the roles of carers and the pivotal role played by carers in helping children achieve to their full potential.

The charter represents a way of working reciprocally and accountably in the best interests of children, their birth families, their carers and the staff who support the service. It is hoped that all foster carers will see this as a positive step forward and feel able to continue to contribute to the service in a meaningful way, so that their voices in support of children and young people who are looked after are heard and acted upon.

The charter was officially launched on the 4th of October in conjunction with the award cere-mony for the Creative Writing Competition.

Launch of the Foster Carers CharterJulie Gibney, director of Childrens Social Work signs the charter alongside Emmy Lindsey manag-er of Fostering & Adoption and foster carers Janette Young and Lisa Bowman.

October is a special month for everyone involved in fostering as it’s a time for us to celebrate the positive influence our foster carers own children have on the lives of foster children. October marks sons and daughter’s month which rec-ognises the invaluable contribution that sons and daughters give to support foster placements.

From those first faltering steps a child takes through the front door of their new foster home, the foster carers birth children play a vital role in helping the newest member of the family to learn the way their home works from the sim-plest of day to day routines to celebra-tions and family gatherings.

Sons & Daughters Month

AC Online Train-ing QualificationsWe would like to remind you of the op-portunity to enroll on AC Online train-ing. There is a new course, Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Looked Af-ter Children, which has been written in partnership with YoungMinds, the UK’s leading charity championing the wellbe-ing and mental health of young people. There are many other courses that the carers can access too. Foster carers can contact a.bouteloup@health.gov.je or their SSW to gain access to a course.

Bus AdvertisingHave you spotted our amazing bus yet?

For the next year Fostering & Adoption will be seen throughout the island on the rear and inside of the bus which is part of the main fleet.

This is part of this year’s publicity activity to raise awareness and help create a wider public platform.

Unsung Hero AwardCongratulations to Janette and Glyn Young who won the Unsung Hero Award for their commit-ment and dedication to foster care. The award scheme is designed to celebrate those that go the extra mile and show extraordinary dedi-cation to their roles within health and social services.

The Young’s were the only individuals rec-ognised outside of States of Jersey employees and we are delighted that foster care has been recognised as an invaluable role withing our community. Janette and Glyn have been sup-ported and cared for around 50 local children over the course of 19 years. A truly fantastic

Creative Writing CompetitionWell done to all those who entered the Creative Writing Competition. We were delighted with the response and hope to organise many more events like this for the future.

Our winners were invited to an award ceremony where Julie Gibney, Director of Children’s Social Work, presented win-ners with their well earned prizes.

Everyone who took part received a prize for their efforts, so if you missed out this time there will be another opportunity very shortly. Some entries are posted on our facebook page for you to read.

Amazing Foster CarersNicola Looby represents a new breed of young local foster carers who dedicate time in their busy lives to care for Jersey’s most vul-nerable children. As part of our regular insight into the amazing lives of local foster carers Nicola shares her exciting story of adven-tures in Peru

As part of my nursing degree we have a negotiat-ed practice experience in which we get to choose where we would like to work for a period of 4 weeks. I really wanted to experience another cul-ture and a system that differed from our own to re-ally gain an insight into nursing around the world. My chosen destination was Arequipa in Peru, South America.

I went through a company called Work the World, they set up the placement at a local hospital and they provide accommodation and food all in one easy package. To gain the most from my experience I took the one week INTENSIVE Spanish course when I first arrived, alongside 12 other students. In our house, there was a total of 34 students in my first week … the most the house had ever had!

My hospital placement lasted 3 weeks, my hours were Monday to Friday 7.30-1.30. My first two weeks were spent on a women’s surgical ward and my final week was within the theaters themselves. The hospital I worked in was “a hospital for the poor” as put by one of the doctors, the equipment was very basic and very old. The patients were to bring in their own equipment for their surgeries such as fluids, cannulas, bandaging and medica-tions. The patient centered care did not exist, the patient sat in the bed whilst 15 doctors spoke about them over them and for the whole ward to hear. I was not there to judge I was there to experience and to gain knowledge for my own future practice as a nurse. I was able to support the doctors in changing patient’s dressings and listen into the

ward rounds …. The language barrier was difficult as very few people spoke English and I did my best with my Spanish. The way that procedures are done and the treatment is undertaken was a difficult sight to see but it truly made me appreciate the ne-cessities in life and how lucky we are to have such an amazing health care system and staff that truly do focus on the patient and give the patient a voice.

At the weekends, we went on adventures of our own: We visited Lake Titicaca and slept on an island in the middle of the lake with the bare mini-mum …. A bed, food and friends … no electricity, running water or a proper toilet but we did watch the most incredible sunset and joined in the islands festivities.

We went to Colca Canyon, the second deepest can-yon in the world, after watching the giant condor birds in their natural habitat we spent the first day hiking down into the canyon trying out some of the local delicacies. That night we all dined together after a dip in the pool at the bottom of the canyon and the next morning was the vertical hike back up … 2.5 hours of small, rock covered pathways to the top of the canyon watching the sun rising over the canyon …. INCREDIBLE!!

My Husband Grahame arrived the next weekend and we spent the weekend in the beautiful Areq-uipa, exploring the city I had stayed in for 3 weeks but had seen very little of. Our final adventure began when Grahame and I left Arequipa to travel to Cusco, we had the most luxurious bus for the 10-hour journey … sadly the roads did not match the beauty of the bus! We spent two days exploring the city of Cusco and then it was time to start our final adventure to Machu Pichu! We did the alternative trek to Macho Pichu … The first day we travelled on a mini bus up to 4200 meters above sea level and then cycled 40km down the mountain roads and through the most incredible scenery. That eve-ning we went white water rafting in the Urubamba River with our fellow trekkers.

The next day we hiked for the most part of the day, covering parts of the Inca trail, seeing exotic fruits and plants, banana, cacao, coffee beans, papaya growing and animals in the wild. We stopped off in the beautiful natural hot springs before we hiked to our destination for the day. We celebrated our achievements with a round or two of the 4 Cubra Libres for 20 Soles (£4.76).

The next morning, we were collected from our hostel – we went zip lining across two mountains some 750m lines and then walked along the rickety bridge, an amazing experience! After this we were taken to lunch and this was our first sight of the macho Pichu mountain. After lunch, we trekked all the way round the mountain following the train tracks and enjoying again the most incredible scen-ery that Peru has to offer. That evening we went out for dinner and had an early night in preparation for our early start the next day (3.30am)

Our hike to Machu Pichu started at 4am, we walked back along some of the path we had done the day before and waited in a queue … thankfully we arrived early enough so were within the first 30 people … some 500 people were there by 5am the gates opening times! It took us 45 minutes to hike up to the top of the mountain. We were finally there, there are not enough words to describe the beauty that was there … we even managed to watch a llama being born – a rarity at the top of Mach Pichu!

All too soon it was time for us to return home from our Peruvian adventure!